Trade Marks – Case Law

Case law comprises the reported decisions of selected appellate and other courts (called courts of first impression) which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents. In England and Wales, courts decide the law applicable to a case by interpreting statutes and applying precedents which record how and why prior cases have been decided.

As with every statutory intellectual property right, a good deal of case law has arisen in relation to the law and practice of registered trade marks. A selection of the more important and most recent decisions of the English High Court, Court of Appeal and House of Lords, now the Supreme Court, appear below.